Serious Commitment

Good morning Friends!

I have made a serious commitment to not lose more ground with my health!!!

I know that several of you are feeling the same way - NO EXCUSES!

I am committed to no dairy, no grains, no added sugar for 30 days....
It's only 30 days right?  And I committed to working out. We know that Nutrition is 80% but I want to feel better and give this round my all (again!).

Here is a picture of my dinner last night - YUMMY!
(I was going to type Yumminess but that is just a made up word :)  )

I will tell you on day 3 - my pants are LOOSE! 

One small thing can make all the difference...

Last week I visited Spiece twice and both times noticed something was different. First, the whole place seemed to have a freshened appearance. Not sure I can articulate specifically what is different, but it seemed brighter in there for some reason. The other thing I noticed was the musty smell when I walked in the door was noticeably less obvious. Again, not sure if it is just me or something has changed.

On the second visit, following a hamstring pull from the previous visit, I decided to mark my commitment to resuming a healthy lifestyle by purchasing a membership (at the alumni rate of $44/month). With the busyness of life these days, if I am going to keep up, working out is essential to raise my energy level. I have already noticed my blood pressure is back in the normal range again.

When I received the revelation of the value of making purposeful decisions, it totally changed my world.

What important decision have you been putting off?

Make today the best ever!
Gavin

To those of you who commented below or responded outside the blog, thank you! It seems there are at least a few of us who want to restart our journey where we left off to regain some new momentum on the path of healthy living.

Maybe a co-lunch would work for our first regroup.

In the form of a personal update, I have refocused on meal prep for lunches this week and last night around 8:00pm I made the decision to go to Spiece. This is the first time in a gym in months for me for physical activity. It wasn't much, but a start nonetheless. I met one of the new evening crew at the desk. He confirmed alumni memberships are still being offered at $44/month with a $15 initiation fee. I will be signing up Friday or Saturday!

My activity for the night was to play basketball on my own just to get back to moving actively again. Ended up playing somewhat aggressively, draining a lot of shots, chasing the ball. This lasted a whole hour! As I was ready to be done, I lunged to run for the ball after it ricocheted off the rim toward the corner of the court and wound up pulling my left tweaking my left hamstring and by then my right knee was bothering me with a slightly sharp pain.

The best part of it all was I saw my commitment had been re-upped, and now my goal is to work toward hitting the "century" mark of 100 lbs lost. This goal, once achieved, will put me below the 200 lb mark for the first time since about 10th grade! I don't care if it takes another year or so, this is now mine to own.

For those of you who have decided to re-engage, give us an update and watch for an invitation to lunch sometime soon.

Blessings,
Gavin

Friends, peace is found at the moment of confession and the Lord has been dealing with me on the theme of self discipline lately. This is very exciting to me because having some conversations with some of you recently, I know I am not alone. One area I need more discipline in - again - is nourishing and exercising my body.

If you are like me and have reversed course to some degree over the past few months and have been frustrated and considering getting back on track in the realm of wellness, let me be the first to welcome you back with open arms!

I believe all of us would agree that one of the greatest things about the BMSW 3 program was the sense of camaraderie we had and the relationships that developed over that amazing 12 weeks. A few of us have been talking about the need to recommit to our former WHY's that originally compelled us to apply to the program and endure that intense period of time to move past our excuses. This morning, I was reminded of this, slightly redacted, passage of Scripture:

"My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off... don’t write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away..." (James 5:19-20, The Message)

To all who are ready to step back on the path and reap the benefits of great health, I encourage you to comment below and say, "I'm in!" Once it seems we have all the responses we're going to get, we'll schedule a time to come together for a relaunch.

Not saying it has to be with the same intensity of a 6-day workout and Monday night class, but we will ask for and expect some measure of commitment to logging in MFP, blogging, and reporting on progress toward goals.

We'll work the details out as we go, but for now I am simply interested in finding out who is tired of being tired, sick of being sick, and absolutely not willing to go back on the hunt to reclaim previously donated clothes. If you're ready to go at it again with me, leaving our excuses in the dust to experience the amazing benefits we once knew, declare it below.

Bless you all,
Gavin

Interesting

I remember hearing a story from an inspirational speaker once about how he had contracted with a personal trainer.  The trainer was outstanding, the speaker was motivated, and in a short time the speaker was feeling fit, strong, and admittedly a bit full of himself.  He was however, disappointed when he realized he had not carved out the time to have a photo taken prior to the beginning of his new regimen to document the contrast.  He expressed his disappointment to the trainer saying, “I forgot, and now it’s too late for a before picture”.  To which the trainer deadpanned, “No it isn’t.”

Every photo is a before photo.  And while I think we’ll all be pleased with the contrast between our own before and after photos, they represent only a snapshot in time.  I haven’t heard any of the participants say, “I’m glad that’s over, and thankfully I have this after photo to remember it by.” 

Stay thirsty my friends.